YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia highly appreciates the principled and impartial position adopted by France during the recent war, Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan said following the meeting with President of the Senate (upper house of the Parliament) of France Gérard Larcher.

“Today we commemorate 1.5 million Armenians who were killed just because they were Armenians and Christians. Today is the 106th anniversary of those events, although that event has not been limited to one year”, the Armenian Parliament Speaker said.

He reminded that today is also the 20th anniversary of the official recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide by France. He considered symbolic the visit of the French Senate President and his delegation to Armenia, which is taking place after the recent war unleashed by Azerbaijan with the support of Turkey against Artsakh and the Armenian people. “Thus, we assess this visit as a clear message of solidarity and support by our friendly France also in this context. We highly appreciate the principled and impartial position adopted by France during the war”, Mr. Mirzoyan said.

He thanked the French Senate for the adoption of the resolution on the need to recognize Nagorno Karabakh on November 25, 2020. Mirzoyan said the adoption of this resolution is very important for the strengthening of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship format, as well as for the recognition of the international status of Artsakh as a key guarantee for the security of Artsakh-Armenians. “It is also a sobering message addressed to Turkey and Azerbaijan, which do not stop making anti-Armenian, Armenophobic and militaristic statements to date”, Ararat Mirzoyan said.

The French Senate President and his delegation arrived in Armenia for the participation to the Armenian Genocide commemoration events.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan